Baseball cards are among the most widely collected memorabilia. Collectors seek both old cards, which are traded and which have been increasing in market value, and new cards to complete collections for each team for each season. Baseball cards have photographs of the player, as well as importance statistics and other information. Individual manufacturers of baseball cards also include trade dress and other identifying indicia, so that collectors can easily determine the source of the series from which any card originated.
In addition to baseball cards, other sports have similar cards, although collection and value have not reached the economic or numerical proportions of baseball cards. Other cards exist in areas of interest other than sports have not yet reached a significant market size. Nevertheless, growth in these areas will depend upon the degree of inherent interest in the topic and also on the amount of marketing effort expended.
In addition to straightforward collecting of baseball cards and the like, persons young and old enjoy time spent with the cards, perhaps in using their imagination to select all time favorite teams or best statistics for individuals or teams, and engaging in imaginary trading and managing decisions an the like.
One such baseball card market in which ones imagination and even ones fantasies can be enjoyed is the children's market, in which an ordinary child who might be playing in age group baseball can fantasize about playing on a major league team. This fantasy or "playing", which many experts believe is desirable for intellectual growth, would be enhanced if a child's image could also be provided on a baseball card. However, it is almost essential that the fantasy card, if that is a reasonable name for the card containing the child's photograph, be accurate and substantially identical with established and recognized, or "real" baseball cards.
Prior art methods of meeting this need have not been well received, however. The only product which has been available to date is one in which a person mails a photograph to a marketing company. The particular or logo identifying indicia of a particular brand of baseball card is than burned in or printed on top of the photograph. No matter what photograph is used, the likeness to a real baseball card is marginal at best and is hardly worth the effort one must expend in order to obtain this marginal card. One clear disadvantage is the time delay of up to eight to ten weeks from order to satisfaction. Ten weeks is too large a portion of a major league season to wait.
Accordingly, while it is not presently possible, the fantasy or dream would be complete if the personalized baseball card with perhaps an actual photograph of the collector would look like a real baseball card and would be available substantially immediately. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide such a card.
One device which has been proposed for use with photographs is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,093 to Suttles et al. This device includes a front and back panel with a die cut opening. A photograph is held by an initial attaching means which aligns the photograph. The panels are thereafter folded and fastened permanently. There is no attempt to present a plurality of images which cooperatively permit a combination of publically known images with personalized photos and the like.
At the present time, baseball cards and the like are limited to one photograph or image. Larger book-like designs no longer resemble a baseball card and thus do not truly belong in a collection. Nevertheless, card devices which include a combination of two messages or images have great potential and it is another object of the present invention to provide such a device.
Yet another area in which virtually no commercial success has been realized is in personalized promotional, advertising and packaging material. For example, personalized magazine covers are at best a novelty item in which a photograph is mailed, and the replica is returned in perhaps six to ten weeks and after substantial expense. Personalized movie posters do not exist at all and character representations of various personalities are not available except perhaps on a custom order basis. Accordingly, yet another object of this invention is to provide a card device which can be inexpensively and immediately used in personalizing promotional, advertising, character merchandising, and packaging materials.